Chester County man leads officers on chase in Reading, police say

Joseph R. Hendricks was jailed in the Berks County Prison on several charges.

Written by Reading Eagle

Reading, PA —

A Chester County man led officers on a chase in hilly east Reading, driving so fast that his vehicle went airborne across Cotton Street, police said Wednesday.

Joseph R. Hendricks, 32, of Parkesburg was apprehended after he ditched the car at the intersection of Wunder and South streets, police said.

He was found near South 11th and Spruce streets, which is about where the chase began about 6:30 p.m. Tuesday.

Hendricks was committed to Berks County Prison in lieu of $5,000 bail after arraignment before Senior District Judge Thomas M. Gauby Sr. in Reading Central Court. He faces charges of fleeing or attempting to elude a police officer and possessing marijuana.

According to police:

A city officer was with a state parole agent in a marked patrol car. While stopped at 11th and Spruce, they saw a car with a burned-out license plate light.

They followed the car as it traveled west on Spruce Street, then south on Maple Street and east on Muhlenberg Street before rolling through a stop sign to turn left on South 11th Street.

The officer turned on his emergency lights and siren, and the chase wound through several narrow streets.

Hendricks drove the wrong way on Wunder Street, ignoring a stop sign at Cotton Street, where the car went airborne, landing and fishtailing on the opposite side of the intersection and continuing south up the hill into the 500 block of Wunder.

The officer cut off the pursuit due to safety concerns and later found the abandoned car.